KBEAR MONKIE K01

Many thanks to KBEAR for sending this review unit to me and also thanks to Sonic Mantra team for creating this opportunity. This review reflects my honest opinions. I did not get influenced or paid by anyone for this review.

Here’s a non-affiliated link to purchase the KBEAR MONKIE K01.


The KBEAR MONKIE K01 is a super entry level earphone coming at only $9.99 and $10.99 for microphone option. It uses a 10mm composite diaphragm Dynamic Driver. This one has a ‘Wukong’ theme going on which is based on the recently released “Black Myth: Wukong” game as far as I can tell.


Package Contents:

• The earpieces with fixed cable
• 3 pairs of black ear tips
• Paperwork

The Unboxing is straight forward. The earphones come in a zipper poly with medium sized ear tip already attached to the earphone.

The earphones are made of transparent plastic. The faceplate has Wukong written on it with golden fonts both in English and Chinese on each ear piece. The internals namely the dynamic driver and wiring is clearly visible through the shell. The build quality seems okay. The cable on the other hand is flimsy which is soldered to the ear pieces directly. Though can’t complain much considering its price but would’ve liked detachable cable option. These come in three color choices- black, grey and purple. I got the grey one with no mic for this review.


These are small to medium sized shell. The comfort on the IEM is good. I found no discomfort or whatsoever in long uses. The cable is pretty easy to handle as well that comes with a L-shaped 3.5mm jack which is easier to clutch for mobile gaming.



The KBEAR MONKIE K01 has a V-shaped tuning. The sound evaluations are done with the stock eartips:

• Bass:
  The bass is thumpy and felt pretty fast for the price. The sub-bass is rumbly and clearly audible but doesn’t go all that deep but there is reverberation. The resonance afterward gives a boominess to the bass. Mid-bass is punchy and kicks sound thumpy and fast. The decay is good as well. Overall bass sounds big and creates a good spacious effect around the low end.
• Mid-range:
  The mid-range is neutral and has natural timbre. Male vocals have moderate note weight and texture but sounds recessed with the overpowering bass. But it’s not bad by any means. Male vocals occasionally sound a bit timid or thin but that’s track specific. Female vocals are clean, has good energy, sounds smooth without any upper mids harshness in most cases. Apart from vocals string instruments, pianos sound natural as well. There are occasions of some sibilance with some vocals.
• Treble:
  Treble sound vivid and has good extension with moderate amount of details. The lower treble is detailed with natural tone and the upper treble is airy with shimmering sparkles. The shimmering part sometimes sound unnatural or too high pitched especially drum snairs and similar instruments. This got better with more burn-in period. Electric guitars sound very energetic. Acoustic guitars and other string instruments sound energetic and detailed with good extension. The sparkles sound like they are at the end of the stage which gives it an overall sense of spaciousness.
• Technical Performance:
  The KBEAR MONKIE K01 has spacious stage with decent width for the price. Stage depth is lackluster but that’s acceptable. Imaging is good with good instrument placement. Instrument separation is average. The directional audio cues are pretty good which helps in gaming. Overall it has above average technicality for the price.

The KBEAR MONKIE K01 has decent technical performance which helps it perform better in games. The earphone is marketed as a ‘Gaming IEM’ which actually matches in performance as well. I only played Valorant with this one so I’ll only talk about this game.

The first thing I noticed while in game is how airy the end of stage sounded. Vandal was pretty loud due to elevated lows. Other loud weapons like snipers or sheriff wasn’t an issue as they don’t burst shot. The vandal sprays were kind of distracting as the resonance or boominess of its firing overpowered some ability or movement sound cues. The directional audio was pretty good and I was able to hear audio cues due to the airy resonance. For the price it did pretty good. Lowering the low end will help make the overpowering bass sound less distracting and give you a better sense of awareness.


Source and tip rolling:

This section shouldn’t exist considering its price point. I am just sharing my findings. The earphone is good to go with neutral to warm source. As for ear tips I found the Divinus Velvet ear tip to be quite a good pair for this one.


The KBEAR MONKIE K01 is a pretty good option for those looking for a super cheap IEM for casual use. The market for this one clearly isn’t audiophiles but regular consumers which I feel like will satisfy many of them. These are quite sensitive rated at 16 ohm which is easily drivable from any device. For fun V-shaped sound with overall good performance as a whole including casual gaming, this is a nice option.